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Apr 6, 2010

LEPP FARM MARKET

When I hear about a new local place to visit for great food or specialty items I am all over it. For a long time my coffee group would head out on road trips for the day and come home with bags of delicious local foods, cheeses, coffees, and vegetables. Corn on the cob was always high on that list and our favorite place was a little corn stand in an area called Abbotsford. The Lepp family has had a stand there for 15 years. The young ladies working there were always so pleasant but the corn was worth the drive all on its own. Well the corn stand is gone but look at what they built in its place. Lepp Farm Market.

Now that property has a market on it and it is soooo worth the drive out there. I went there on Saturday because I had heard from one of my friends how good it was. Off I went and I was not disappointed.
First of all I asked permission to take photographs in the store. One of the owners, Charlotte Lepp was immediately welcoming and agreeable to my taking pictures in their store. I would have taken many more if my batteries would have held up but those rechargeables lose their juice just sitting.

The wonderful thing about this market is that they raise their own chickens and hogs. Their meats have no growth hormones or antibiotics in them. Their animals are fed no animal byproducts.They also have beef raised for them that meets all of their guidelines.This crown roast of pork would have been perfect for Easter dinner wouldn't it? I know....look at that presentation.

I went with one of their ginormous...not a word I know....roasting chickens. The ones from the grocery stores are so puny you can't even make good gravy with them because they cook so quickly. This beauty cooked up a glorious brown with a nice rich brown base on which to make my gravy. It was so good. My BB Guy is going to make sure he has some with him for the next trip to the cabin.

Just look at this meat counter. Fifty feet long. Besides the chicken I bought a pork roast, stewing beef, in-house made andouille sausages and some pepperoni. We had the andouille in a pasta dish tonight. Smoky paprika flavour. Oh my. I had a nice chat with a fellow genealogist who worked behind the counter. Great service.

I wanted some of their olives and decided on one that I had never had before. After a sample I went with the Caserecce Schiacciate. They are really fruity and don't be fooled by the colour of my photo. They are a lovely green olive. The pits are in still but they easily release the stone from the fruit in your mouth.

I also bought a few sticks of their pepperoni. All this shopping has built up an appetite so I went to their lunch counter/studio kitchen. Oh yea, they are going to have classes here too. That is Charlotte in the middle.

Hi Charlotte.

They have this beautiful water cooler on the counter for you to help yourself to ice cold water. Lots of moist towelettes too because the best thing to have for lunch in my opinion is a pulled pork sandwich. Several napkins and a towelette later I was full.

Yup I ate the whole thing, myself, alone. Okay cut me some slack...I hadn't had breakfast and this was lunchtime. It was so good. My BB Guy will be getting some of this to go for sure.

On the left is the garlic cheese loaf I bought. That didn't last long at home. I only wish I had room to have a cinnamon bun or scone too. I do have my limits.

Here is something unusual and unique. I have never seen these before. Sardines. Yup, sardines...made of chocolate. What a cool gift these would make in their little tin boxes. I love these. They have many other specialty items in the store. A produce section, a dairy section, cheeses, frozen items like their soups and chicken pies. Spices and condiments from all over the place. They have Farmhouse cheeses which I have written about before along with the Backporch coffee.

I bought some of the Himalayan Crystal Salt. It is pink and really tastes of the ocean though I don't equate the Himalayas with the ocean for salt. We love different salts and always try new ones.

Once again thanks to Charlotte and all of her staff for being so friendly, welcoming and fun. I had a great morning and have been recommending this market to anyone and everyone. I can't wait to go back. They have a great website. Click here to see it and maybe grab a few recipes even though you can't visit in person.

14 comments:

What a neat post, Lori. I so enjoyed mt trip with you and your coffee group to Lepp's Market. How I would love to have something like that here (actually, there probably is, I just haven't discovered it yet!). I like your choices in the chicken, cheeses, coffee and salt. I am picky about those things. And I always enjoyed my coffee when I was in Vancouver last year,

I will have to remember this place the next time I am on my way home from Vancouver or when I come down to watch my son play football in Chilliwack....looks wonderful!! I so wish we had some place in Kelowna like this, but for some reason we only have the summer outdoor market and the usual grocery chains :(

I stop here at least once a week. Excellent Butcher who doesn't mind my request to get bigger or smaller steaks then are in the meat cooler in the front. Produce Guy is awesome too. They didn't carry fennel and on a sunday I asked if they ever thought about bringing it in. Show up there monday to a small bundle of fennel! I would expect to see these types of markets starting to pop up in smaller cities and municipalities such as Abbotsford as people are getting back to enjoying cooking and also the slow food movement.Lepp's Farm Market Rocks!

Oh Lori....this is wonderful!!!! How lucky you are....I wish there was a place like this around me. I do have a chain store called SPROUTS but it isn't as sool as this by any means....I think you live in a very cool spot on this planet!!!! Yup! Very cool! :)

This store is amazing!!! I go there at least once a week, if not more. Everyone is so helpful and friendly. I love how they support local farmers and businesses in the area, and have a great selection of products. A great addition to the Fraser Valley, and with such quality products, I will be a long-time customer.

I thought Hopcott was good! I'll definitely have to take a drive out to check this place out. My brother is all about halal meats and when I tried some chicken and steak last summer, it was out of this world good. I'm glad there are these type of meat shops popping up around us. Long overdue!!

Oh, how I would love to visit this market! It looks like the ones we visited in Amish country in PA. but on a much larger scale. I would have had to sample it all. That bbq looked delish! Thanks for the tour, it was just like being there!

I love Lepps! The meat is the BEST I have ever had. Once you've had any of it - the chicken, the beef, the pork - the sausages - even the deli meat -- you can't eat anything else!!! The staff is sooo wonderful and helpful, and everyone is always smiling. The perfect store. I love it!!!